Season three of Euphoria has premiered to mixed reviews. Additionally, Zendaya and Sydney Sweeney are reportedly feuding. Let’s talk about it.
Premiering on April 12, the long-awaited third season of Euphoria has completely abandoned its purple-esque theme in favor of a darker neo-western landscape. From rumors of behind-the-scenes cast drama to staggering character changes, the launch has generated a lot of digital discourse.
Having skipped half a decade of character development, the series forced audiences to reconcile with jarring new realities immediately. We are no longer watching rebellious, anxious teenagers navigating the halls of high school drama. But rather deeply traumatized adults are dealing with severe financial and criminal consequences. The cast is now able to play closer to their ages, no longer playing through high school tropes. However, it does leave emotional gaps that the premiere struggles to fill.
The main storyline is Rue becoming a drug mule to pay off an impossible debt, but she ends the night attempting to get into the sex worker game as a supervisor, not a participant. The desert drug running and dangerous criminals are very reminiscent of Breaking Bad. Despite the show’s strange turn, Zendaya delivered a fantastic performance as Rue. She’s working with what she has available.
The strangest part of the night is the storyline where Cassie and Nate are married, he’s scamming to keep his father’s construction company afloat, and she’s complaining about not being richer. She plans to turn to OnlyFans who earn fast cash, for the extravagant things she wants for their wedding.
It feels like some warped version of a sitcom, but that’s not to say the storyline is a complete failure. Jacob Elordi is coming off his Oscar nomination for his role in Frankenstein. He seems phoned into it. He also seems bored to the point where the version of Nate we see in season three is not the one that we have seen in previous seasons. Nate was a borderline evil character who was very easy to dislike. And now he is dulled, just tired from everything.
There isn’t enough of Maddy (Alexa Demie) and Lexie (Maude Apatow) to form any real impression of their storylines. Jules (Hunter Schafer) is said now to be a “sugar baby,” though her absence is mainly felt, as she was one of the show’s most interesting characters. In addition to the strange storylines and performances in the show, it is missing the soundtrack from Labrinth, the musician who scored the last seasons. Replaced by Hans Zimmer, who is a fantastic composer, but the new music doesn’t really feel like Euphoria.
Only the persistent rumors of off-screen drama rival the on-screen drama. Leading up to the premiere, there have been extensive reports on alleged tensions between Zendaya and Sweeney, claiming the fallout plunged the production into chaos. Neither actress has publicly confirmed the rumored feud, but we had seen at the premiere that Zendaya seemed to avoid Sweeney. Zendaya seemed to avoid being there very long in general. It wouldn’t surprise us if the star is now ready to move on from Euphoria. She hugged other cast members but avoided Sweeney. Also, when Sam Levinson (director) tried to get Zendaya to follow him, she was pulled away by her publicist. The perceived backstage friction has definitely influenced the way audiences are interpreting their isolated character arcs.
We are sure that fans will continue to voice their opinions on how the rest of season three will go. We can only wish the best for the stars of the show, but who doesn’t love a little drama on-screen and off-screen now and then?
